Sadie Hawkins

Sadie Hawkins was a character in Al Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner. She debuted on November 15, 1937. She was "the homeliest gal in the hills," and grew tired of waiting for men to court her, so her father declared the first annual Sadie Hawkins Day, a foot race in which Dogpatch's unmarried women pursued the single men, and if a woman caught a man, he had to marry her. A comic strip character became a feminist thing, and on local "Sadie Hawkins Days," American women and high school girls would ask the men/boys on dates or to dances. Due to its popularity and many fan letters that Capp received, the Sadie Hawkins Day became an annual event in Li'l Abner during November, and remained so for four decades. The terms Sadie Hawkins and Sadie Hawkins Day remain ingrained in the American lexicon.

External links and references

• lil-abner.com on Sadie Hawkins